CTV reports, “The United Nations said Friday that it is ‘regrettable’ Canada will withdraw from a UN convention that fights the spread of droughts. …’The Convention is stronger than ever before, which makes Canada’s decision to withdraw from the Convention all the more regrettable’, the Bonn-based secretariat for the convention said in a statement…”

“Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said Canada was withdrawing from the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification because the program has proven too bureaucratic, and not worth the $350,000 contributed each year.

The decision would make Canada the only country in the world not part of the convention.”

“The UN body said Canada’s annual contribution of $291,000 — less than the $350,000 the government says it was paying — accounted for 3.1 per cent of its budget.”

Council of Canadians chairperson Maude Barlow has stated, “Drought is a life and death issue for millions around the world. Pulling out of this convention is simply the worst thing Canada could do and this is the worst time for the Canadian government to be pulling a stunt like this, Drought and desertification are growing in over 100 countries in the world. Our relentless over pumping of groundwater and damming and diversions of rivers for the global food trade are destroying water tables around the world.”

The Canadian Press has reported, “Canada’s withdrawal comes before a major meeting about the convention in Bonn, Germany, next month.”

That conference will take place from April 9-19. It will be focused on the ‘Economic assessment of desertification, sustainable land management and resilience of arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas’. And then from April 15-19 there will be the Eleventh Session of the Committee for the Review of the Implementation of the Convention.